Postboxes of Cheltenham

One of the early 'Penfold' pillar boxes in Douro Road Cheltenham

Cheltenham has an unusual collection of Penfold pillar boxes. See Cheltenham A new history for a brief account of the boxes and an illustration of the well-known Montpellier Walk box.
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There are a variety of facts about these boxes. They were first produced in 1866, and were designed by a Surrey architect. Post boxes were painted red in 1874. English Heritage has listed all early boxes, and suggests in one case that 94 'Penfold' boxes still survive, and in another case that 64 survive. The British Postal Museum and Archive indicates that the original design was modified fifteen times in its thirteen years of production, and that the second modification introduced was to move the slot for posting letters down a little, because there were complaints that letters got stuck in the top. So Cheltenham's eight are the first edition, and as such notable survivals amongst the 20 nationally. The largest collection is in London.